John Ranelagh
HarperCollins, London 1991, £15.99
Also out in (Fontana) paperback this year, this book was curiously neglected when it appeared in 1991. This is easily the most interesting and informative book on the Thatcher years to have appeared so far. Ranelagh was a member of the Conservative Research Department (CRD) between 1975-79 — a member of the internal opposition to Mrs Thatcher while ‘Thatcherism’ was being cobbled together by group around her. The CRD was then headed by Heathite Chris Patten. As a former, albeit junior ‘insider’, Ranelagh has had access to almost everybody who matters — except Mrs Thatcher. The result is a fascinating account of how a tiny group of people, with a handful of elementary, core ideas, captured the Tory Party — and its attendant media. Much of the book is directly sourced to interviews with key individuals of the period, and even the bits attributed to ‘close advisor’ and ‘close colleague’ et al, contribute to the ‘feel’ of the period. On almost every page there is something of interest — and, on many, serious insights.
But Ranelagh became a true believer, and accepts ‘Thatcherism’s’ talk of success and transformation. So at another level, this an extremely partial — laughably partial in places — account of the past 20 years. This is the ‘Putting the Great back in Britain’ fantasy; Maggie and the unions replaying George and the Dragon. Why has Britain been in relative decline since the war? It’s all the fault of the unions. The British economy’s structural bias towards overseas investment? Not a word. Impact of the City on Tory economic policy? Not a word. It doesn’t matter. This has some great anecdotes, some genuinely new information, and some wonderful, unwitting self-revelation by a spokesperson for the Thatcherite myth.
RR